I can see both sides of the coin: end of fiscal year bliz spending or just save the company money. Well, I have seen instances with leftover funds DUE to the management team being careful throughout most of the year and then with some left over they relax a bit and buy a piece of equipment that they would like to have but did not think they could afford. This has happened a few times where I worked. Now I have seen the opposite: we have money still in the budget Lets spend it so we get our full budget next year!

Perhaps, if budgets were not so politially charged and employees did not feel like they would not get renewed funding in future years then we would not feel the pressure to spend up to our budget limits at year's end. Well back to reality! :)

If you buy parts or equipment you will surely need in the next few months, then it isn't wasteful, it is just pulling in spending by a few months. If you rush out and buy something on your "wish list" and then rarely/never use it, then that is a waste. I have known people who bought pallets of fluorescent lights at the end of the year to burn up their budget, then had no place to store them and sent them to Surplus, where they were purchased by the original supplier. I often wondered if the same pallets of light bulbs just cycled back and forth each year. Now, *that* is a waste.

this always blows my mind. It is an issue that EVERYONE is aware of. It just seems rediculous that we continue to run things in this manner despite the fact that everyone at every level sees that it is ineficient and wasteful.

This was true once upon a time. However, time has changed and year ending rush is not a criteria. Many times this is more related to projects and its requirements. For genuine requirement, budget restrictions are not imposed. And if money is not spend correctly, one get boomrang effect and eventually it takes toll of person who wastes money.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.